[twister_mama]

Well, it is true that most Americans never travel out of the states. Traveling outside the U.S. is so expensive! Even travel in the U.S. is expensive these days, so many people are unable to travel at all. I've never been outside the country, so my knowlege of foreign countries is also limited to what I've seen on the television and what I've learned at school.

Also, I guess I can't say that nudity is uncommon in the states. Nudity and near-nudity is everywhere these days- television, movies, and music videos (like you mentioned). I know that not everyone feels as "taboo" about it as I do. I think my main problem is that I do have a bad body image including body dysmorphic disorder, so nudity is something that I have issues with to begin with. I honestly wish that people were still very modest and that everyone viewed nudity as taboo purely for my own selfish reasons. However, I get the impression (correct me if I'm wrong), that nudity in the US is all about being viewed in a sexual way while nudity outside the US like in Europe, is just viewed as being "natural" not "sexual".

You have described my feelings on this subject exactly! And also, I worry that one of these days my husband will decide he'd rather have a *real* woman instead of me, because literally EVERYONE we see while out shopping is much larger than me (and exposing major cleavage). Fortunately, he has repeatedly expressed his disgust of women who expose themselves like that; and his ONLY interest is in me. I still need a few glasses of wine before I'll get undressed in front of him, though; and we've been married over seven years.

I have never been into a VS store. If I ever do, and they actually have something in my size (yeah right!), I will pay with cash, because my sister said she paid for something at VS with her credit card once, and she started receiving catalogs in the mail. I SOOO do not want to receive their catalogs! My home is my "safe haven" away from all the big-busted women that make me feel worse about myself; the last thing I want is to bring it into my home. And besides, my husband is the one who gets the mail. I know he'd never look at a catalog like that; but still, I don't want to feel distrustful of him. This is such a sensitive subject for me.

Like you said, maybe it's because breasts are considered so sexual (and the definition of femininity) here in the US that has caused my body image and self-esteem issues. I too wish everyone would cover up, though.